Case Studies

Earth Hour 2009 has been recognized by the Public Relations Society of America as a 2010 Silver Anvil award winner. Entered by the World Wildlife Fund, the Earth Hour 2009 entry was awarded a Silver Anvil in the “Events and Observances” category.

Fifty three entries, including Earth Hour 2009, were recognized as Silver Anvil award winners during the June 3 awards ceremony in New York. Earth Hour 2009 was selected as a winner from a group of more than 800 entries. MP&F is one of eight contributing agencies in WWF’s entry, included for the agency’s work coordinating the event in Nashville.

When Nashville was selected as a flagship city for the event, WWF hired MP&F to help implement the work on the local level. In partnership with WWF’s Southeast Rivers and Streams Program, with support from the city of Nashville, MP&F encouraged hundreds of Music City businesses, owners of major buildings and residents to turn off all nonessential lights for one hour to symbolize growing concern over the issue of climate change.

Hundreds of millions of people took part in Earth Hour 2009 by switching off nonessential lighting for an hour. Cities from Las Vegas to Sydney, from Cape Town to Beijing participated. And many of the world’s most iconic landmarks went dark, including the Golden Gate Bridge, the Empire State Building, Sears Tower, the Eiffel Tower, Niagara Falls and the Edinburgh Castle in Scotland. Nashville was right there in the middle of it all to make sure the world knows that Music City cares about the future of our planet.

The Silver Anvil, PRSA’s highest honor, recognizes organizations that have successfully addressed a contemporary public relations issue with exemplary professional skill, creativity and resourcefulness. Silver Anvil judges evaluate entries for their strategic nature of public relations programs using four key components — research, planning, execution and evaluation.

MP&F is the recipient of four previous Silver Anvils. The company won its first Silver Anvil in 2003 for its work in the rollout of Nashville’s curbside recycling “Curby” program. It won the second in 2005 for its role in a statewide workers’ compensation reform effort. The third Silver Anvil came in 2007 for the “Meth Destroys” statewide education and awareness campaign about the dangers of methamphetamine use and production. In 2009, MP&F accepted its fourth Silver Anvil for its successful campaign on behalf of the Nashville for All of Us coalition to defeat an “English Only” charter amendment.

To view all of the 2010 Silver Anvil award winners, click here.

To read more about Earth Hour Nashville, click here.